I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Sorry, this movie sucks

best movie i've ever seen.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Trouble in paradise develops as a newly married mute piano player and a rough farmhand forms a bond over a piano off the coast of New Zealand. The Piano is a great example of an autopilot Oscar-bait film that sadly felt dated today. It just felt very clunky and lacks a visual language to further its simplistic story line about betrayal and self-discovery. In addition, a very questionable romantic/jovial tone somewhat diminish its self-discovery story line and somewhat makes me not take the film very seriously. Nevertheless, the film boast great cinematography and fabulous acting from Hunter, Neill and Keitel. I just wished this film was given a different direction. Very disappointing for a Cannes and Oscars BP Winner[2.5/5]

The Piano is considered a most romantic movie. And in a way it is, but not really in the classic use of the word "romantic."The characters are far from two dimensional, with ups and downs, highs and lows; both good and bad. No one is just one thing and it is a very fresh, raw take on humanity. The script colors their characters beautifully, and the story has many different aspects. But the one that stands out most, as it should, is Holly Hunter's journey from saddened, numbed woman to vibrant lover of life.The men that desire her are scoundrels and undeserving of her, and yet both are good men in their own ways. Patient, kind, understanding. It's interesting to see how and why both of these men want this woman who has abandoned all hope of ever loving anyone other than her daughter ever again. Hunter's character is an enigma. She can love fiercely on one end of the spectrum but she cannot hate. She also doesn't realize that she has a say in her life until she falls for one of the men who desire her. This movie is odd to say the least. Each time you view it you will think differently of all of the characters. You will never be quite sure who the villain is or who the hero is. But you can be sure that it is a gripping original take on love and starting over. 7.8/10

Holly Hunter, without saying a word, turns in a remarkable performance in The Piano. It's a shame that performance is stuck in such an unremarkable movie. This is a slow, plodding, grim and quite dull movie. Hunter creates a compelling character but the movie really has very little else going for it. The whole thing is rather pretentious. This is a tough movie to get through.The story unfolds in the mid-19th century. Hunter plays Ada McGrath, a mute Scotswoman who has been sold into an arranged marriage to a New Zealander, Alisdair Stewart. So after a long journey Ada comes ashore in New Zealand. She brings two very important things with her. Her young daughter, Flora. And her piano. Playing the piano is the way this woman who cannot speak expresses herself. She pours her heart into her piano playing. So suffice to say her relationship with Alisdair gets off to quite a rocky start when he decides he can't be bothered transporting the piano to his home and leaves it to rot on the beach. This is not going to be a happy marriage.Alisdair ends up selling the piano, which mind you isn't even his, to his neighbor George Baines. Ada is of course enraged. Further enraged when Alisdair orders her to give George piano lessons. George is a very simple man. He can't read. He has adopted many of the local Maori customs, including tattooing his face. Why does this crude man want to learn how to play the piano? Well he doesn't. He wants Ada. He just wants to watch her play. They come to an arrangement where she can earn her piano back by letting him do things while she plays. And the things George wants to do are not at all innocent. Maybe he'll start by just looking up her skirt. But before long they're naked and in bed. Well, what's a girl to do when she wants her piano back, right? Anyhow, this whole arrangement goes badly because George actually has affection for Ada but she's just using him to get her precious piano. And of course there is the small matter of Ada's marriage to Alisdair. That loveless marriage, with its complete lack of affection, greatly frustrates Alisdair. That frustration will manifest itself in rather terrible ways.This all seems like it could make for an interesting story but for whatever reason the movie just doesn't work. It is not entertaining at all. The whole thing is so bleak, perfectly matching its backwater setting. Hunter does so well to convey so much emotion without even speaking. You always know exactly what Ada is thinking, great credit to Hunter for being able to convey that. The role of Ada's young daughter turns out to be a critical one and Anna Paquin does well with it. Flora is an intelligent, mischievous little schemer and Paquin's performance is very good, very mature. An Academy Award was probably a bit much though. Whereas Hunter and Paquin shine the men in the picture don't come off nearly as well. Admittedly they're not helped by a script which gives them some rather clunky, awkward dialogue. Harvey Keitel plays George and never really seems comfortable in the role. Meanwhile Sam Neill's portrayal of Alisdair falls hopelessly flat. This is a movie largely about passion but it comes across as almost entirely passionless. It's a movie that is badly out of tune.

Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) has been mute since she was 6 without a reason. She and her young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) are brought over to New Zealand to marry Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill). She communicates with Flora with sign language. Her piano is her prize possession and her voice. However Alisdair deems it too heavy to carry and leaves it on the beach. Then Alisdair sells the piano to his illiterate neighbor George Baines (Harvey Keitel). George proposes to sell it back to her with one visit for every piano key and she counters with just the black keys.This is romance novel melodrama from director Jane Campion and it is epic. Everything works including the epic landscape. The pounding waves, the lush forest and the isolation becomes part of the story. It is filmed beautifully. The performances are great. Anna Paquin is precocious. Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel are not the natural romantic pair but there is something touching about that.